The present invention relates to a ballcock assembly. Ballcock assemblies function to control the delivery of water to a toilet flush tank to maintain a predetermined level of water in the toilet flush tank. Illustrative of these ballcock assemblies of which applicant is aware are the following patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. PATENTED ______________________________________ 921,131 May 11, 1909 1,643,558 September 27, 1927 2,911,000 November 3, 1959 3,194,258 July 13, 1965 3,554,219 January 12, 1971 3,693,649 September 26, 1972 3,797,518 March 19, 1974 3,982,556 September 28, 1976 ______________________________________
Ballcock valve assemblies which function to maintain a predetermined level of water in a toilet flush tank are usually designed to accommodate a particular type and size of toilet flush tank and therefore cannot readily be installed in a variety of toilet flush tanks. General purpose ballcocks designed to be installed in a variety of toilet flush tanks tend to be expensive and complicated.
Some ballcock valve assemblies consist of a standpipe having a positive action ballcock valve wherein the valve opens against the water pressure in the supply pipe. One advantage of this type of valve is that the water pressure aids in closing the valve since its closing action corresponds with the flow of water through the valve. When the water pressure is high, however, use of a positive action ballcock valve is feasible only if the lever arm which opens the valve is sufficiently long enough to overcome the water pressure in the supply line. The use of a long lever arm usually dictates the use of a float attached to the end of the lever arm to provide an adequate counterweight to open the valve against the pressure of the supply water. An example of such a ballcock is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 921,131. Such a ballcock valve assembly is cumbersome causing installation and adjustment to be unduly difficult. Moreover, if such a ballcock is sold as an aftermarket item, extra costs relating to packaging and distribution are incurred because of the unwieldly construction of the ballcock.
Elimination of the long lever arm with an attached float in a positive action ballcock valve has resulted in a variety of mechanisms for opening a valve against the pressure of the supply water. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,556 there is disclosed a positive action ballcock valve that is operably connected to the flush trip mechanism so that manual operation of the trip mechanism opens the valve. Thus, a fairly sophisticated linkage must be connected between the trip mechanism and the ballcock in order to initiate operation of the ballcock valve. Consequently, this type of ballcock is not readily installed in a wide variety of toilet flush tanks.
In general, there is unavailable a low cost general purpose ballcock valve assembly adaptable to be installed in a wide variety of toilet flush tanks.
It is the general object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved ballcock valve assembly having a ballcock valve which opens against the pressure of the water supply and which is actuated by a float that surrounds the ballcock assembly.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a ballcock assembly having an improved throttler mechanism for controlling the rate of flow of incoming water.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a ballcock assembly having means for controlling the distribution of water between the toilet flush tank and the toilet bowl.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a ballcock assembly having an improved height adjusting mechanism.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved ballcock assembly having means for varying the level of water in the toilet flush tank at which the ballcock valve is actuated.